Shockadin

(updated for patch 3.3)

Shockadin is a fan term for a paladin who has 31 points of their talents in the Holy tree, but still manages to deal respectable damage. Their biggest sources of damage are [Exorcism], [Seal of Righteousness] and [Holy Shock], hence the term "shockadin". [Consecration] can also be a solid asset to a shockadin's damage due to its high spell power coefficient. Shockadins are more than capable of healing as well, as the build invests 31 points into the Holy Tree.

Mechanics

Shockadins generally cause very little physical damage, though they are capable of inflicting a high amount of spell damage in a short period of time. The most popular spell will be [Holy Shock], if possible combined with [Divine Favor]. Another important source of damage will be a Judgement spell combined with [Seal of Righteousness]. Shockadins can also use [Consecration] to do surprisingly dangerous AoE damage. In addition, [Avenging Wrath] can be combined with [Divine Favor] for huge [Holy Shock] crits. With the release of patch 3.1, [Exorcism] can be added, now also to pvp player targets as of 3.2.0.

Shockadins are known for their massive burst capabilities, and paladins that seriously gear for the spec are a significant force in PvP. As [Holy Shock], [Divine Favor], [Avenging Wrath], and trinkets will only trigger 1 global cooldown when tied together in a macro, the shockadin can dish out a great deal damage in a single click. At this point, the shockadin can potentially follow up with a [Hammer of Wrath] to finish off opponents.

The shockadin's main damage spells are all on a 5-10 second cooldown. Judgements, are 10 seconds (down to 8 seconds with Improved Judgements). [Holy Shock] is a 6 second cooldown (down to 5 seconds with Glyph of Holy Shock). [Exorcism] is 15 second wait normally, but about 10 seconds with [Purifying Power]. [Consecration] is your standard 8 second AOE spell (up to 10 second cooldown and duration with  [Glyph of Consecration]

This build can be very mana efficient starting at level 71 when you gain access to both [Divine Plea] and the first point of [Judgements of the Wise].

The lack of sustained DPS means that shockadins mostly excel in duels against a single opponent, where a well timed burst is enough to end the fight. In longer drawn out arena battles, a shockadin may be useful for bursting down an opposing healer, but after all cooldowns have been popped, the shockadin might just end up healing their allies.

Glyphs

Some glyphs to consider are:

• [Glyph of Holy Shock] - (Reduces the cd of [Holy Shock] by 1sec) - essential to increasing DPS.
• [Glyph of Exorcism] - (Increases the dmg by [Exorcism] by 20%) - very good for PvE damage.
• [Glyph of Avenging Wrath] - (Reduces the cd of HoW by 50% when AW is active) - lower cd on a spell means more profit from your wings.
• [Glyph of Judgement] - (Increases the dmg by your Judgements by 10%) - not a huge increase, but still pretty good.
• [Glyph of Consecration] - (Increases the duration and cd of [Consecration] by 2sec) - will only increase mana efficiency if you are having problems with that, more of a concern before level 71 when you get [Divine Plea].
• [Glyph of Seal of Righteousness] - (Increases the Seal portion dmg of SoR by 10%) - a dmg boost similar to Glyph of Judgement.
• [Glyph of Salvation] - (Reduces all dmg taken by 20% when HoS is active) - a defensive glyph which can make HoS useful during quick battles.

Talents

All Shockadin's have atleast 31 points in Holy, to get [Holy Shock], these are the key talents:

• [Seals of the Pure] - Increases damage from Seals and Judgements by 15%.
• [Healing Light] - Increases the effectiveness of Holy Shock by 12%.
• [Divine Intellect] - 10% more intellect, means more mana and more crit.
• [Illumination] - Gives mana on crit, an oom shockadin is a dead shockadin.
• [Divine Favor] - Prerequisite for Holy Shock and will grant a guaranteed critical holy shock, essential for the maximum controlled burst.
• [Sanctified Light] - Increases the critical effect chance of Holy Shock by 6%.
• [Purifying Power] - Bringing Exorcism down to about a 10 second cooldown.
• Holy Power(3/5) - Increases the critical effect chance of your Holy spells by 3%.
• [Holy Shock] - Essential for all Shockadin builds, and will provide a significant percentage of your damage.

Holy/Retri

The majority of a Holy/Retri-Shockadin's talent points will be placed in the Retribution Tree. The most important damage talents to consider when building a shockadin are:

• Benediction - Reduces the mana cost of your instant cast spells. If you intend to be the primary source of damage on your targets, it will be important to reduce the cost of constant spellcasting.
• Improved Judgements - Brings down Judgements to an 8 second cooldown.
• Crusade - 3-6% additional damage depending on the target.
• [Sanctified Retribution] - 3% additional damage.
• [Sanctity of Battle] - Increases crit chance by 3%, and damage of [Exorcism] by 15%.
• The Art of War - Increases the damage of your Judgements and your critical melee hits will yield you instant-cast Exorcisms (and Flash Heals).
• [Sanctified Wrath] - Reduces the cooldown of your Avenging Wrath.

Examples of talent builds:

31/0/40

31/0/40

31/0/40

31/0/40

50/0/21 (A build based on long term mana sustainability and more overall utility)

Holy/Prot

The majority of a Holy/Prot-Shockadin's talent points will be placed in the Protection Tree. The purpose of this build are to help you survive in PvP. The most important protecting talents to consider when building a shockadin are:

• [Divinity] - 5% more healing on you, 5% more healing on others.
• [Stoicism] - 30% reduced duration of all Stuns, and reduces the chance your spells will be dispelled by 30%, which means less nuke time for enemies.
• [Divine Guardian] - When [Divine Sacrifice] is actived, your take 20% reduced damage for 6 sec. In addition, increases the duration of your [Sacred Shield] by 100% and the amount absorbed by 20%. But remember, [Divine Sacrifice] also makes you take damage from other partymembers nearby, so its best used when attacked by 2 or more, when you are alone.
• [Improved Righteous Fury] - All damage taken is reduced by 6%.
• [Improved Devotion Aura] - 6% more heal while you got ANY aura active.
• [Blessing of Sanctuary] - 3% less damage(spell and melee).
• [Sacred Duty] - Increases your total Stamina by 8%, and reduces the cooldown of bubbles.
• One-Handed Weapon Specialization - Increases all damage you deal by 10%.
• [Combat Expertise] - Increases your total Stamina and chance to critically hit by 6%.
• [Unyielding Faith] - (holy tree) - Reduces the duration of all Fear and Disorient effects by 30%, which gives you more time to heal or nuke.

Talent build:

33/38/0

Outdated builds

43/0/28 (Sanctity Aura)

48/0/23 (Healing and Survivability)

41/20/0 (Arena Shockadin) - Forfeits significant damage for essential healing paladin talents. Can still gear however to provide a critical burst of nearly 4k.

Technically, it is possible to have [Holy Shock] and with level 80 get the extra spell damage from [Holy Guidance] though this would not be recommended due to the talents you would be missing from the Retribution tree.

Mana inefficiency and use outside PvP

Perhaps the biggest downside to a Shockadin is the fact that if you run out of mana, you die. [Consecration] is very mana consuming and shouldn't be "spammed". Outside of PvP, these builds make excellent healing builds.

Some players (including Paladins) believe that the Shockadin is not viable as DPS. Although 5-man instances may allow room for lower DPS output, a raid environment often requires that damage dealers burn down bosses as quickly as possible before they enrage and one-shot players one by one. Holy Paladin gear does not have the +hit rating needed for DPS on raid bosses, and enchanting/gemming to reach the +hit cap (specifically the +Spell Hit cap) would come at the expense of +spell power and +crit rating, thus lowering damage output. The best way to gear a raiding shockadin would be to try to reach the hit cap through gear only, which would mean acquiring caster DPS cloth, as well as mail armor designed for Hunters and Enhancement Shamans; although mail comes with Agility, a useless stat for Paladins, it does indirectly improve a Paladin's crit rating. Also, the attack power provide by mail armor is highly useful, as the Paladin is primarily a melee class, and will be in melee range even when casting spells. The hit cap can be reached through a combination of high level neck, ring, trinket and/or weapons as of gear in patch 3.3. Clothies, Hunters and Shamans have first priority on the gear, and you won't be able to roll for it unless no other players of that class in the group/raid needs the gear, and even then, many groups prefer to have it disenchanted and then roll on the resulting shard.

Another problem with a shockadin in a PvE environments that the Holy tree does not have threat reducing talents like Fanaticism, a Retribution Talent. While you are perfectly capable of possibly topping the DPS charts, you would be forced to slow down your damage in order to avoid taking aggro away from the tank.

Gear

Shockadins focus on spell damage and spell crit rating, and they use one-handed maces or swords with caster stats and a shield.

A popular one-handed weapon would be  [Seethe], while solid choices for shields are  [Protector of Frigid Souls],  [Pulsing Spellshield] and  [Voice of Reason].

Librams worth mentioning is  [Deadly Gladiator's Libram of Justice] and  [Libram of Resurgence]. Which one you choose, depends on if you want to do more damage, or heal better. When fighting undead or demons,  [Libram of Wracking] is also an option. It is obtained from an Outland Quest reward, so make sure you keep it if you would like to use it.

Outdated as of Wrath

Using a two-hander leaves you vulnerable to physical opponents, but can help you burn down a cloth wearer if you have a good weapon.(no two-handers with spellpower available at level 80)

Any two-handers should have high top-end such as  [Sword of Justice].  [Armageddon] is also a great weapon, but the highest spell damage two-hander currently available to paladins in the game is  [Hammer of Righteous Might]. It is particularly useful against casters of course, and it slightly increases the damage from both your Seal of Righteousness procs and Judgements, as well as the damage done by Holy Shock.(One-hander and a shield is much better at level 80)

As for Librams,  [Deadly Gladiator's Libram of Fortitude] is a good one for granting 120 attack power for 6 sec. when using [Crusader Strike].  [Libram of Radiance] is also a solid alternative for increasing the damage taken from your [Crusader Strike].( [Crusader Strike] is no longer obtainable together with [Holy Shock]